This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay

Monday, 29 April 2019

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.

Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn't – about life on and off the hospital ward.

I've seen a lot of people talking about This Is Going to Hurt and after a few people I know read it and recommended it I finally decided to give it a go. We all think we know what front line NHS staff deal with but this is truly eye-opening and everyone should read it.

Adam Kay used to be a junior doctor, working his way up the ranks and quickly heading towards being a consultant until a heartbreaking incident put everything into perspective. Using diaries kept at the time you get a real insight into life as a junior doctor, fresh out of education and thrown in at the deep end. Adam works his way through the variety of junior doctor posts and specialises in obstetrics and gynaecology. Often learning through the mentality of "see one, do one, teach one" and working long hours that leave him with no life outside of the hospital, Adam takes on each challenge that comes his way until an incident occurs that throws everything out of balance and the NHS approach to the aftermath leaves him with serious doubts about the profession.

I loved the balance of comedy and hard hitting stories that complimented each other. The comedy brought light to what could have been a dark book and the true stories brought home just what front line NHS workers go through each day which combined brought a whole new appreciation for the people who do these jobs. I thought I had quite a good idea of the NHS front line but I'll be honest a lot of the stories and the NHS approach to some things shocked me and I really think everyone should read this book to get a better idea of what really goes on. I laughed out loud many times but I was also brought close to tears on many occassions too which perfectly reflected the up and down nature of the profession.

What I really liked about this book is how it highlighted mental health issues for front line staff and the lack of support from higher up the chain. There definitely appears to be a mentality of it just being part of the job and you're expected to just get on with it and sort of forget about it which I found really shocking. This book really should have been a catalyst for talking about this problem more and I truly believe there should be more support for front line staff.

I can't express how much I enjoyed this book and what an important read I think it is. Basically just pick up a copy and read it!